So my neck pain is recently back. It was gone 2 weeks ago and now it's back again and I'm so scared of a vertebral artery dessection. I have a pain on my neck radiating to shoulders, and then I have a pain that radiates directly on the top of my head or temple.Earlier, I bended over to pick something and I had this sharp pain on the side of my neck that went exactly up my head, I was so sure I had a stroke, I'm really scared I don't know what to think. Sometimes the pain on the neck is on the left side and behind the ear and temple and head, and sometimes it's on the right, I really think I'm gonna have a stroke because of this and I know it mostly occurs in young people. Also, I get these stabbing headaches on top of my head that last for seconds, and I got quite a lot of them today. I also feel my head heavy and I find it diffiicult to sit like I sit in front of my laptop, as I feel the need to lie down. The same pain behind the ear goes on the other side as well. I feel this pressure on my forehead on the left side I really don't know what to think, please someone give me some insight, I'm on the verge of having a huge panic attack.
I do not think you are having a vertebral artery dissection and this may well just be anxiety and stress and you are mistaking the pain in your neck and head for something more serious. Unless you have had a significant injury that has affected your neck it is not very likely that you will have something like a arterial dissection. Spontaneous vertebral artery dissections are rare and only happen in approximately 1-4% of people per 100,000 (so it is 99-96% certain this is NOT what is happening to you). I know it is easy for me to say but please try not to panic. As first step you need to refer to your GP or access an consultation with non-emergency medical professional. The fact that you are on a verge of a huge panic attack suggests you may already be prone to anxiety and this is more likely to be the root cause of the pain you are experiencing. My personal experience of anxiety and panic used to make me convince myself that the pain in my arms, neck and chest meant that I was having a heartattack which fed the feeling of panic and the terrible feelings that tend to engulf you. Like I said please try not to panic and it may help you by avoiding looking to the internet to self diagnose a possible condition when you feel like you do at the moment, as this really will make things more difficult and could "feed" the anxiety and panic that may well be likely to be making you feel like you do at the moment.
First of all thank you very very much for replying, it's been 2 days since I posted. I haven't had a significant injure on my neck but I recall that it came back after a day at gym last week. I had neck pain before due to bad posture but this felt different.
I do suffer from anxiety, especially health anxiety. I'm on therapy that has helped a big deal on GAD and also I've had health anxiety free days where I wouldn't think of anything like this but it comes back sometimes too. Do you suffer from anxiety too?
Needhelp
Talk to your GP, I get the same and it is caused by my condition and age.
Whatever I say here you are wanting it checked, make that appointment and let us know how you get on
BOB
What scares me the most are the sharp pains I get on the sides of my neck or under my jaw,they don't last long and I get them on my head too. Could anxiety cause this?
Thanks for replying! Gonna go to my GP today. Gonna tell him to listen to my neck arteries so he can tell if there is anything wrong. After that gonna have a neck and brain MRI
Went to my GP he listened to my neck arteries and he said that they work perfectly fine. He said that this might be my muscles being strained or something about my skeleton. Gonna have an MRI as next step and see where to go from there. Might visit an ortho
It could be your posture.
There are pages around that may help, give it a try
BOB
Sometimes with Anxiety the jaw can lock up and feel stiff the tension can possibly be felt into the head aand down the side of the neck.
It is all attached to the physical attributes of your anxiety
BOB
I've had a bad posture for years tbh so it could be that.
Yeah my jaw, neck and shoulders feel so tense and sore. Thank you!
Try looking first at how you are sitting when you are on the computer !??.
BOB
I know your problem has been resolved, but just for reassurance - if I've had persistent pain in the back of your neck and shoulders for a week, preceeded by mild headaches the week before, and a normal neurological exam a week ago, should I be concerned about something like this happening to me right now? It's been nearly two weeks with head and neck pain, but I have not experienced any dizziness. There was one time when I experienced head rush that lasted longer than normal after laying down in the middle of the day. However, my pain is more at the spot where my neck meets my back and often radiates down to my trapezius muscles. I need someone to tell me this is not a vertebral aortic dissection or I might go sick with worry
Oh god it seems i have put more anxiety to people..damn! See, most people don't even know this exist, I'm sorry hah.
No, actually my problem isn't resolved myt neck is still being bad and everything. Anyway, no I wouldn't be worried if I were you, you had a full neuro exam, if anything was wrong the doctor would be able to say as VAD affects your neurological system and has signs! I have had a neck pain that sometimes radiates to my head and gives me sharp pains that last for seconds for a week and so , and ive had neck pain before that too.
Anxiety causes your muscles to tight so that's why your neck is hurting as well as your head, you're overly stressed, don't think about it, I'm sorry if this post triggered your anxiety, VAD is really rare.You'll be fine, try to relax!
No worries!! I knew I shouldn't have clicked on it in the first place :P and I was able to rationalize with myself pretty quickly! I can tell this is definitely the kind of pain I would get from anxiety/HORRIBLE posture. I hope your issue resolves quickly and without too many problems!!
Yeah anxiety combined with bad posture does that. Have you searched forward head posture? I think I have that!
Best of luck to you too! How long have u suffered with anxiety?
I think I've had very mild anxiety for a good chunk of my 20 years (always used to worry about things out of my control) but it was never bad enough to be unable to dismiss it as general worries. For about a month and a half now it has completely taken over my brain, so it's all relatively new to me
I see , yeah! it's tricky with a lot of symptoms! Try to distract your mind doing anything that makes you happy! Best of luck! Message me whenever you need anything!
Thank you!!
Hello, I know I'm late. But I wanted to let you know that I've been diagnosed with bilateral vertebral arterial dissection. My symptoms included severe neck pain that lasted for weeks and would not go away with any medication used, I also had blurry vision and vomiting. To me it doesn't sound like you have a dissection, but not a bad idea to get it checked out. Make sure you don't get your neck adjusted by a chiropractor.
Hey, may I ask, did you have any bad injury or did you visit a chiropractor? cause I hear that they are a cause of most of these cases.
How did you find out it was a VAD? by MRI?
Also, was your pain at the back side, or at the sides? how did it feel? was it stabbing? I'm sorry for all the questions, i just need to know!
Also, I'm glad you found out early, i hope everything goes well! What does your treatment plan involve?
Im having the same type of anxiety right now and im so worried , went to the gp and told me i just have muscular pain due to bad posture , the pain radiates onto my cartoid artery .